Monster
by Aislinn Carter
Summary: William experiences his first loss. Small twist in who it is.


Title: Monster

By: Aislinn Carter, Sun, 6 Aug 2000 20:15:54 -0400

Subject: M/S married with William, death

Summary: William experiences his first loss. Small twist in who it is.

Spoiler: Existence, I guess, considering it's about William.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people, not Mulder, Scully, William or Monica or any of them. You can be sure that if I did, William would have been a daughter, Mulder wouldn't have left, and Scully wouldn't have done the most hypocritical thing in the world by giving her child up. And season 9? Was that a joke? Anyway, I don't have any money, I'm not making any off of this, suing me is pointless.

Feedback: Always welcome at Let me know if it sucks or not. I wrote it in five minutes, it's def not my best.

Archiving: Let me know where.

William was the first one to find him.

He walked into the den, looking for his father. Mulder had been promising him all week that he'd play video games with him, but he still wasn't feeling well enough to do much of anything. He had walking pneumonia, and while he could still move around the house, he was under strict orders to do absolutely nothing until his lungs cleared up. It had seemed like he was getting better, but he had been coughing all morning.

William stopped short at the entrance to the den. His eyes widened in shock, his mouth dropping open. A long, horrified gasp came from him, and he rushed over to the prone body on the floor. Body stiff, eyes wide open, blood trickling from the mouth…

"No!" William wailed, the scene too much for a thirteen year old boy to endure. "Oh, God, no!"

He fell to his knees, his heart feeling like it was going to break. He covered the stiff body with his own, hugging it to him, almost in an effort to keep its life force in. But whatever life force this body had once had was long gone; the eyes stared up blankly, glazed over and lifeless.

He thought his world would end. This body had once been someone who was always there for him, his constant companion, always ready to play ball or go for a run, or even a drive to get ice cream. When Will was sad, he was there for him. When Will was happy, so was he. William could always feel the love from him, and now he was gone forever.

With a sick feeling, William knew he was going to have to call for his mother. She had loved him too, maybe even more than William had. So many nights William would pass by the den to find him and her cuddled up on the couch together, or sitting on the front stoop together on a warm summer night. He had been her protector, right there in front of her when danger was about. Scully would be devastated. Will didn't know how she could recover from this. How either one of them would. Summoning his courage, and trying to keep his hysterics at bay, he called for her.

"Mom!" he screamed. "Mom, come quick!"

He heard her shoes clicking down the hallway, and she came through the archway into the den. "Will, what…" She trailed off as she saw the body. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh, oh no…" She rushed over and dropped down besides William, pushing him aside so she could check him over. But she was a doctor, and she could see that it was far too late. He had been dead for some time. "Oh God, I knew he didn't feel well, but I had no idea…Oh, I'm going to miss him so much!" She leaned over him just as William had, and sobbed, hugging the dead body to her. "Oh, I loved him. I loved him so much."

William started crying again too. "He was with us my whole life, Mom. What am I going to do without him? I wanted him to watch me grow up."

Scully sobbed harder. "And I know he wanted to watch you grow up. He loved you from the minute he saw you, when he was looking into your bassinet, and I knew he would rather die than let harm come to you. Oh, our lives will seem so empty without him." She looked up at her son, her face streaked with tears, her eyes red rimmed. "He was my best friend," She whispered mournfully. "And I'm so sorry you had to find him like this. You shouldn't have had to see this. We'll have to make arrangements…"

"What's going on?"

They looked up to see Mulder in the doorway, a box of tissues in his hand, his robe rumpled. He looked down. "Aw, did Monster die?"

Monster had been with them since William was a baby. He was a puppy that Monica found at a crime scene, both his owners having been killed. No one else wanted the little guy, and rather than bring him to the pound, she brought him over to Dana's apartment. At first, Mulder wasn't so sure. "We've got a brand new baby, Scully," he said. "Do you think we can handle a puppy, too?"

But they had all fallen in love with him, and Mulder started affectionately referring to him as the little monster, earning him his name. And when William started getting a little older, and he'd beg his mother to stay with him at night because he was afraid of the monsters, she would smile gently and say "But sweetie, you have your own monster right here to protect you." And she was right, because that dog would have thrown himself in front of a car for any of them.

Mulder walked over to them, his own eyes filling up. "Poor little guy," he choked out, leaning over to ruffle the dog's head. "I mean, I know thirteen is pretty old for a dog, but I guess I always expected him to live forever. He really was like another kid, you know?"

"We'd better do something….I don't want to bury him in the backyard. What if we move?"

"They have a pet cemetery over in Arlington. We could call there and see about a plot for him."

"But Dad, those are expensive, aren't they?"

Mulder shook his head. "I don't care. Monster was a part of our family. He deserves the best."

So they buried Monster in the pet cemetery in Arlington, and life went on. But the Mulders never forgot about Monster, and while William would have other dogs in his lifetime, none would compare to his first best friend.


End file.
